Coho Data Makes Flash Storage Smarter

Given the cost of deploying Flash storage in an array, optimizing which specific applications get the most bang for the Flash storage dollar is becoming a much higher priority. To address that issue, Coho Data today added support for DataStream FlashFit technology to its storage arrays for VMware environments that enables storage administrators to deliver the right amount of Flash for each application.

Making use of analytics software embedded within version 2.5 of its DataStream software, Coho Data CTO Andy Warfield says IT organizations can now easily see which applications are consuming Flash storage most effectively. While Coho storage systems auto-tune the overall storage environment, Warfield says there comes a point when tuning by itself won’t be able to resolve I/O performance contention across multiple applications. DataStream FlashFit provides visibility into how Flash storage is actually being consumed, which Warfield notes usually comes as a surprise to most organizations.

The issue, of course, is that not many IT organizations pay enough attention to how data is being distributed across their storage systems. Naturally, as the amount of data being stored continues to grow, it’s only a matter of time before contention issues arise.

In addition to applying advanced analytics, Coho Data announced today that via the addition of 8TB drives, the hybrid Coho DataStream 1008h can now deliver a total capacity of 50TB.

Finally, Coho Data also announced today it is giving customers the option to pay for its storage arrays on a monthly basis as part of an elastic subscription plan under which customers only pay for the capacity they use.

In general, Warfield says usage of Flash within arrays is on the rise because IT organizations are starting to realize that a card that plugs into a server at a cost of $3,000 to $6,000 usually winds up sitting idle when the applications running on the that server are not in use. Given that server utilization rates are well below 20 percent, most of that Flash capacity winds up being wasted.

Of course, virtual machines need as much I/O help as possible, which is the reason that Coho Data decided to focus specifically on making a scalable object-based storage environment for VMware environments in the first place.